Socket



Jan. 23, 1962 w. E. BARRE, JR., ETAL 3,01

SOCKET Filed June 20-, 1957 r PIC-3.2..

Rom JJ E mR oR TAG N EB m m E H M m L l W BY mm 'fliajy y ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,018,462 SOCKET Wade E. Barre, J12, Warren, Pa.,and William H. Morgan, Jr., Beverly, Mass., assignors, by mesneassignments, to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., Wilmington, DeL, acorporation of Delaware Filed June 20, 1957, Ser. No. 666,849 1 Claim.(Cl. 339-112) This invention relates generally to connectors or socketsfor receiving connection prongs of an electrical device and morespecifically to a socket for supporting and making connections with anelectrical device having relatively high thermal radiation loss.

Many electrical devices having high thermal radiation loss such as, forexample, projection lamps, must be rigidly positioned in a' socket toavoid displacement due to vibration or other external force. At the sametime such devices must be relatively easy to cool.

Prior art sockets which answer the positioning requirement haveheretofore been formed in such manner as to impede the passage ofcooling air adjacent the inner surface of the socket and the outersurface of the electrical device held therein. Such a socket is shown incopending United States Patent application Serial Number 553,367 filedDecember 15, 1955 in the name of William H. Morgan, Jr. As a resultrelatively expensive means have been deemed necessary in the form ofcooling aids for dissipating heat from the socket as well as the saddle.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to allow cooling of anelectrical device and connection means in an economical manner.

It is also an object of this invention to firmly position an electricaldevice relative to electric contacts and a support structure so as toallow relatively rapid dissipation of any heat developed internal theelectrical device.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with otherand further objects, advantages and capabilities thereof, reference ismade to the following disclosure and appended claim, in connection withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows an embodiment of a socket saddle, and

FIGURE 2 shows an embodiment of a socket body portion, and

FIGURE 3 shows a portion of a typical electrical device to be positionedin a socket, and

FIGURE 4 shows the saddle of FIGURE 1 and socket body portion of FIGURE2 in assembly, and

FIGURE 5 shows an electrical device positioned in the assembly of FIGURE4.

To briefly consider one aspect of the invention, there is provided asocket or connector having a generally tubular support saddle formed toprovide a plurality of support fingers on one end and an annular flangeon the other end suitable for crimp connection to the laterallydepending portions of the socket body which are formed to extend beyondthe socket body portion ultimately covered by the electrical devicepositioned in the socket.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is shown one embodiment of a generallytubular shaped saddle having a plurality of resilient positioningfingers 13 and an annular flange portion 15. Laterally extendingmounting ears 17 may be provided for fastening the socket body andsaddle to a mounting chassis.

In FIGURE 2 there is shown one embodiment of a socket body having arelatively thick or deep central portion 19 formed to provide aplurality of contact receiving apertures 21 and a central aperture 23for receiving the aligning key of an electrical device to be positionedin the socket.

Laterally extending or radial lugs 25 and 27 are circumferentiallyspaced about the central portion 19 of the socket body, with lugs 25preferably but not necessarily provided with a beveled lower surface 29and an outer edge portion 31 of arcuate shape. The remaining laterallyextending lugs 27 may be provided with relatively square edges 33 asshown.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a cut away version of a typical electricaldevice base having contact or support pins 35 and an aligning key 37.The cylindrical base portion 38 may be provided with one or moreoutwardly extending bumps or protuberances 41 over which the positioningfingers 13 of a socket saddle may snap to hold the device in the socketonce positioned therein.

The complete socket embodiment, shown in FIG- URE 4, being made up ofthe saddle of FIGURE 1 and the socket body of FIGURE 2, is suitable forreceiving the base of the electrical device shown in FIGURE 3. Injoining the saddle of FIGURE 1 to the socket body of FIGURE 2 it can beseen that the laterally extending lugs 25 and 27 are positioned in theannular flange 15, and then the annular flange is crimped in such manneras to place the inner surface of the annular flange portion,intermediate points 43, tightly against the edge and lower beveledsurface of laterally extending lugs 25. In addition, the annular flangeportion adjacent the edges of laterally extending lugs 27 may beflattened to hold the saddle more firmly on the socket body so as tohelp avoid rotation of the saddle relative to the socket body.

The projection lamp 47 shown in FIGURE 5 is a typical electrical device,having considerable thermalradiation loss which, when used in pictureprojectors, should be maintained in a fixed position and at the sametime have as much surface area as possible available to a stream ofcooling air. Referring back to FIGURE 4, it can be seen that theopenings or grooves 49 left between the circumferentially spaced lugswill allow cooling air to be fed against the lower portion of the base38, along the outer periphery of the base 38 and on through the openingsprovided between saddle fingers 13. It will be noted that the circle ofapertures 21 runs close to the grooves whereby the cooling effect on thebase and sides of the tube as described above takes place. In addition,it is usually possible to provide additional cooling air through extrasocket body apertures 21. For example, the projection lamp 47 shown inFIGURE 5 requires only two contacts; however, four apertures 21 areprovided in the socket body. Thus additional cool ing air may be fedthrough the extra contact apertures by omitting contacts, and ifnecessary in any particular structure by enlarging the width and depthof the cooling apertures over and above that used in the contact holdingapertures.

Thus it can be seen that circumferentially spaced socket body lugs whichpreferably extend beyond the sides of the base of the supportedelectrical device, can not only be formed so as to economically hold apositioning saddle but also can be formed to allow cooling air to flowaround the electrical device for dissipation of thermal radiation.

While there has been shown and described what is at present consideredthe preferred embodiment of the present invention, in view of thisdisclosure it will become obvious to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made without departing from theinvention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A socket for holding electrical devices including devices having thermalradiation energy loss comprising a body of insulating material of giventhickness having a plurality of contact holding apertures arranged inthe circumference of a circle in a central portion of the socket 3 and aplurality of circumferentially spaced radial saddle connection lugsextending from the central portion, with a vertical groove in thecentral portion between each pair of adjacent lugs, the circumference ofthe circle which passes through the circumferentially arranged aperturesin the central portion running close to the grooves, whereby cooling airmay pass up through the grooves and onto the lower face of the base of atube inserted in said socket and thence alongside the sidewalls of thetube, a generally tubular saddle terminating on its upper end in aplurality of resilient finger members and terminating at its lower endin a generally annular flange having sufiicient diameter and depth toreceive said socket body lugs, said saddle being attached to said socketbody by crimping said annular flange adjacent at least two of saidsocket body lugs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,190,110 Usselman et al. Feb. 13, 1940 2,192,943 Sumner Mar. 12, 19402,529,502 Kelly et al Nov. 14, 1950 2,586,696 Nauth Feb. 19, 19522,799,010 Carson July 9, 1957 2,807,789 McCann Sept. 24, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 745,002 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1956

